This weekend, no idea why, but I finally started watching the Brian Pillman DVD set the WWE put out back around 2006. I bought in on sale at FYE around 2008 or 2009 and never watched it. It's almost silly, but I've had this set longer than Pillman had been gone before they made it, which everyone complained was too long.

I watched the first disc yesterday...the documentary and some extra interview clips. Lots of good video from '96 and '97 era WWF, which is sort of a blur for me.

There is an interesting match with Pillman and Bruce Hart vs. Rip Rogers and Kerry Brown from Stampede. They show the '91 WresteWar match where Sid powerbombs him. They get into some of the Flare for the Old stuff. Austin was very complimentary towards Pillman, calling him his best friend in the business.

Started Disc 2 tonight but couldn't watch another 2.5 hrs. Will maybe try to finish it tomorrow.

Really good stuff though.

____________________"Well, maybe I like the nightlife just a little bit more than I like the damn gym, jack! And when you're makin' $500,000 a year, there ain't no reason to change what you're doing." - Dusty Rhodes, 1/4/1986

INVASION '92
- Hulk Hogan works a match that is very much formulaic and phoned in. Appropriately, it feels very much tacked onto a tape where the paradigm shift is evident as Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair and Bret Hart are suddenly feature match talents.
- Ric Flair cuts a promo from deep space.
- The Hitman tangles with the Nature Boy in what should be a dream match, but proves to be something less.
- Shawn Michaels, while still a Rocker, gets his chance to shine as he grapples with Flair.
- We get too much of a good thing as the normally fantastic Sherri Martel is overexposed with a manager cam gimmick.
​​​​​​​- The Nasty Boys commit murder on camera.
- The sad last days of Hercules. Okay, the boring last days of Hercules.
- Randy Savage steals the show while moonlighting as a ref.
- We close with an awesome sounding tag match on paper that suffers from brevity and a bit of house show-itis.

Franchise wrote: That Hogan match on invasion 92 is terrible; they are working so loose it looks like a pre show walk thru or something terrible.
By that point Ottman had already been in trouble for his ego or whatever, causing him to miss the SSlam 90 payday. The last thing he wanted was to hurt the top star in the company with his clumsy oafish offense. Just a guess. Hogan certainly wasn't going to try too hard in a 5 min dark match.
========http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wrasslin-back-in-the-day-july-1985-part-2/
The second part of July 1985 sees:
- The Freebirds head to Memphis. But will they be a friend or foe of the King?
- Jarrett brings in one of the worst wrestlers ever
- An old friend of the Von Erichs comes back to aide in their feud with the Dynamic Duo
- A legendary wildman tries to return to the promoting scene in the middle of the new wrasslin' boom.
- Spurned by ESPN, Ron Fuller moves to go national anyway- A locker room fight changes Florida booking plans.
- A huge underdog wins a once heralded title. - Mid South puts on a big show under the hot Tulsa sun.
- JCP hits a home run with a massive stadium show featuring Ric Flair defending his title and America against the Russian Nightmare, plus the AWA and NWA World tag champs collide!
- Tag team legends debut and win the World titles their first night in.

- A champion quits over payoffs.
- Flair sets an arena record for a match against his doppelganger
- Bill Watts makes a rare appearance outside of his home promotion

The WWF heads to the Cap Center
- A manager and a jobber work a mild hardcore style to nearly steal the show
- Hillbilly Jim brings in help that instead seem helpless.
- Jesse Ventura does his best to put over his friend Adrian Adonis, despite his massive weight gain
- Terry Funk wrestles the proverbial broomstick.
- Ricky Steamboat gives us a lesson on playing the irate babyface.
- The Macho Man lays waste to a young and pesky wrestler.
- The Hulkster works with his best friend, forcing him to tweak his formula a bit.

The Internet Wrestling Community recently resurrected this little known (or perhaps just long forgotten) WCW special on MTV
- The late 90's music immediately brought me back to High School. Everyone's mileage clearly varies on whether that is a good thing or not.
- The Nitro Girls battle frostbite
- ROB ZOMBIE calls the action. And he brings firearms. Good lord.
- A Member of Howard Stern's Wack Pack bring the festivities down.
- Konnan gets an entrance fit for a Yooper.
- Our one and only match is a battle royal with (almost) enough star power to headline a Thunder.
- Jimmy Hart and Zombie bond over puns.
- Konnan's career nearly ends thanks to the crack WCW production team.
- We get a rare bump into a snowbank.
- A surprise ending sends me down the fantasy booking path to try and salvage what should have happened.
- WCW Everybody!

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/pro-wrestling-usa-the-meadowlands-8-16-1985/
​​​​​​​
Pro Wrestling USA teases us with what kind of potential a true AWA/NWA co-promotion could provide as they invade the New Jersey Meadowlands.
- Sgt. Slaughter and Ric Flair try to keep it clean, but the "Dirtiest player in the game" just can't help himself.
- Sarge doesn't know how to execute a figure-four. Intentional incompetence to tell a story or a legit error?
- Lucha Sarge leads to a botch.
- The main event finish sets up a rematch that was never to materialize.
- Road Warrior Hawk has an intriguing match within a match with Terry Gordy as they struggle to see who the real head rooster in this hen house is.
- The Botch Fairy sprinkles her dust on Animal as well.
- We finish with another screwy finish, because even babyface champions can't earn a clear win.

MLG Aug 1985Maple Leaf Gardens August 1985: - Jesse Ventura continues to try and defend Adrian Adonis' ballooning weight. - An influx of Montreal talent shakes up the mid-card a bit. - A top heel is showered with love from the fans just for being so cool. - Andre the Giant is taken out by the Bobby Heenan family in a major injury angle. - A Jobber infringes on a popular babyface's gimmick.- Terry Funk puts on a one man show as he tangles with the JYD. - The Dragon seeks blood and revenge as he battles Don Muraco to end the show.

- Tatanka shows good psychology in a nothing match.
- The LOD collide with a bizarrely random heel tandem.
- Sid makes one of his final appearances of 1992 as he clashes with the Undertaker.
- The Macho Man and Shawn Michaels give us a taste of what an extended feud between the two could have produced in the ring.
- The Bushwackers reveal their fetishes.
- The Mountie gets stripped down by his lowly opposition,
- Bret Hart tangles with a man who had already taken WWF gold from him.
- Hacksaw Jim Duggan becomes a perpetrator in spreading Vince McMahon's love of toilet humor.
- IRS drags the show to a painfully dull conclusion as he grapples with the local hero, Davey Boy Smith.
- Bobby Heenan does his best to save the show with his tremendous commentary all night long.

THE CRUNCH CLASSSSSSIC!!!
- Roddy Piper hosts, giving us the best part of the tape as he shows us his battles with the Mountie and Adrian Adonis
- We see a test run for Money Inc as IRS and Ted Dibiase partner up before their partnership to face Virgil and the Bossman.
- Jimmy Hart takes fruit to bed.
- Jim Neidhart finds a new partner to face some old enemies
- Zombie Taker tries to bury the Bulldog.
- The announcers have a little fun with Kerry Von Erich's disability.
- Neidhart and Skinner have THE WORST MATCH YOU WILL SEE THIS WEEK.
- Hosses collide in our tag team main event. The match may set the record for most bear hugs since the last Andre/Studd epic.

- The AWA had a prime time special on Boston TV to benefit MDA.
- They allowed Killer Kowalski and local sports radio host Eddie Andelman to do the commentary, leading to perhaps the worst announcing on any "major" show until Art Donovan's infamous King of the Ring 94 performance.
- Andelman nearly breaks kayfabe as he questions the nepotism of Verne Gagne's son winning on a show Gagne promoted. He also makes up silly names for moves, calls out how old the talent is, calls some matches "boring", plus many many other faux pas'.
- The commentary talks about the wrestlers for using pills, and complain that the AWA is making up rules for BS finishes
- Billy Robinson is forced to be seconded by two local DJs, who decide to dress up in costumes that basically mock wrestling gimmicks.
- Out of date graphics adds to the charm of the AWA's poor production.
- The Road Warriors are caught on camera watching their opponents promo. The interviewer then points them out and the segment goes off the tracks.
- Jerry Lewis appears to give a stilted plug for the AWA.
- Sgt. Slaughter sings!
- A current right wing goof makes a surprise cameo to support the fan favorites.
- We end the night with a quasi riot from the fans.
- This is either one of the worst shows I have ever seen, or one of the best. I am torn!

Been watching NWA shows from April and May 1987. I know it’s been talked about before quite a bit, but I had forgotten how damn good the New Breed was. It probably stands out even more within the context of the era where the other teams were getting awfully stale. On the stick, in the ring, both of these guys were really, really sharp. They were doing innovative tag team moves that I don’t remember anyone else other than the Rockers attempting. So they’re feuding with Jimmy Valiant and Lazertron and also the RnR Express, but you can see how they are already getting super pops with the crowd. It’s easy to imagine these guys becoming megastars in the late 80s and early 90s if the car accident didn’t happen.

____________________"Well, maybe I like the nightlife just a little bit more than I like the damn gym, jack! And when you're makin' $500,000 a year, there ain't no reason to change what you're doing." - Dusty Rhodes, 1/4/1986

- Bobby Heenan and Mean Gene play tennis in the best part of the whole tape
- HBK is tasked with carrying Virgil in an early match from Michaels' heel run.
- We are treated to three Bret Hart matches as Hart finally gets a real push as a singles star.
- We are punished with three IRS matches as IRS cures insomnia for a nation of VCR owners.
- More goofiness as the BERZERKER teaches us how to properly plan a party.
- Two tag team champions battle with much different gimmicks than in their primes.
- The Road Warriors team with the men had just spent months feuding with
- Plus the Macho Man, British Bulldog and other stars take to the squared circle to thrill the crowds.